You might say Bob Bower is a fish out of water, but he loves the desert.  Coming from the Pacific Northwest, you'd think he was more acclimatized to a wet climate.  He grew up in Spokane, Washington, which is inland and a tad warmer and dryer than the western portion of the state.  So, we'll give you that, Bob.  But then, Bob spent 10 years in the U.S. Coast Guard.  I guess he had enough of the water.  

After the Coast Guard, Bob went to college and studied recreation management and administration at California State University-Sacramento, eventually receiving a Masters degree.  While attending school, he worked as a park ranger for the National Park Service for four years.  Once school was done, he came to work for BLM as an outdoor recreation planner in El Centro.  Finding he needed to learn more about GIS for resource management programs and planning, Bob got involved in the early efforts of GIS in California and now manages the GIS program for the El Centro office.  He has also served as the Imperial Sand Dunes visitor services supervisor. 

Bob loves river rafting, and spent 18 days rafting the Grand Canyon.  "Once you put in a one end of the canyon, you can't get out until to reach the other end," Bob said.  

Bob resides in El Centro with his wife Shanna.